Brian Dozier Comes Through

Today's mail brought 3 signed homemade baseball cards from current, former, and future Minnesota Twin Brian Dozier. Dozier was the Twins starting shortstop for a good part of 2012 till he was replaced by Pedro Florimon. There is a lot of talk of Florimon starting at short in 2013 with Dozier playing either second or third. Time will tell how that turns out.

In my previous post I reported I was 10 out of 25 sending to current, or at least current at the time, Twins. Now I am 11 out of 25. Thanks to Brian Dozier for taking the time to sign my cards.

Update on My Autographed Twins Card Collection

I am now up to 431 signed baseball cards from current and former Minnesota Twins. I need only 227 players and I will have them all.

On September 8^th I went to the Festival Foods in Brooklyn Park where Josh Willingham and Drew Butera were signing autographs for free. How popular is Josh Willingham now? I got his autograph at Twinsfest this year, and the line was not bad. On 9/8 I showed up 2 hours early and was the 115^th person in line. The line was equally long behind me by the time they started signing. I guess hitting 30+ home runs makes you popular.

In my August 12^th post I stated I was 3 out of12 with current Twins, but was not 100% correct. The Twins have turned over their roster so much that some guys I sent to when they were current Twins are now former Twins. So I am actually 10 out of 25. Below are players who were current Twins when I sent to them: 

Jamey Carroll - signed

Chris Parmelee - signed

Cole De Vries - signed

Casey Fien - signed

Darin Mastroianni - signed

Clete Thomas - signed

Pedro Florimon - signed

Scott Diamond - signed

Rene Rivera – signed (added a signed card of his own)

Matt Carson - signed

Ryan Doumit

Carl Pavano

Jared Burton

Alexi Casilla

Liam Hendriks

Brian Dozier

P. J. Walters

Sameul Deduno

Luis Perdomo

Esmerling Vasquez

Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Jason Marquis

Sean Burroughs

Eric Komatsu

Matt Maloney

I need a signed card of Burton, Walters, Deduno, Perdomo, Vasquez, Nishioka, Burroughs, Komatsu, and Maloney, so I hope they come through, but at the moment it is not looking good.

I have Doumit, Pavano, Casilla, Hendriks, Dozier, and Marquis, but sent them different cards in hopes they would sign. All these guys have a good history of signing, so we will see if they come through.

I was 10 out of 20 on Twins minor leaguers this year. Below are my results:

Chris Herrmann - signed

Angel Morales - signed

Travis Harrison - signed

Levi Michael - signed

Evan Bigley - signed

Pedro Hernandez - signed

Eduardo Escobar - signed

Jose Berrios - signed

Dereck Rodriguez - signed

Daniel Santana - signed

Eddie Rosario

Miguel Sano

Hudson Boyd

Madison Boer

Oswaldo Arcia

Tommy Stuifbergen

Danny Rams

Bryon Buxton

Adam Walker

Kennys Vargas

It should be noted I got Sano and Rosario through the mail last year. Herrmann and Escobar have since been promoted to the Twins, and are now considered current Twins.

Hopefully my success percentages get a little better next year, but I am grateful to all the players who did take the time to sign for me.

Creating My Own Baseball Cards

In my December 6, 2011 post I wrote about creating my own baseball cards. Some current and former Minnesota Twins players simply do not have many or even any baseball cards which can present a problem for someone, like me, trying to collect an autographed baseball card of every living Minnesota Twin.

My first attempt at designing something looked like this:

I have about 25 of these type cards signed, and they look okay. That said, I thought I could do better, so I used Scribus 1.4 to create this:

Now I had plenty of white space available for the player to sign in. That worked great for the older players who did not have the most stable signatures and for players with bigger hand writing, as they did not try in vain to squeeze their autographed into a small space.

I have about 30 signed cards of this design, and I liked them well enough. However, finding clear yet small enough pictures like the above one of Scott Diamond was not easy, so I decided to experiment with some new designs. Here is the first one I came up with again using Scribus 1.4:

I got 2-3 of these cards signed, and they looked decent, but they are kind of plain. I fired up Scribus once more, and tried to get creative. Here is my end result:

I like it. It looks like something one of baseball card companies might have designed. I have not gotten any of these signed, so I have no idea how autographs look on them, but we will find out soon enough.

I hope to design some back for these cards, and to continue to create new designs. If I come up with anything worthwhile, I will try to post them here.

Another Update on my Twins Autograph Baseball Card Collection

Continuing my string of successful TTM autograph request, I receive signed cards from former Twin Doug Mientkiewicz. I also got signed cards from prospect Chris Herrmann - who included a note of thanks - and super prospect Jose Berrios.

Twins Need Middle Infielders

The Twins started the season with Jamey Carroll as their starting shortstop. Then supposedly dissatisfied with the play of Alexi Casilla at second base, the Twins called up shortstop Brian Dozier and shifted Carroll to second. Dozier was hailed a top prospect who was the “shortstop of the future”.

The Dozier & Carroll combo last till Trevor Plouffe, who had displaced Danny Valencia at third base, was injured and Carroll was moved to third with Casilla reinstated at second. This lasted till Tsuyoshi Nishioka was recalled and inserted into the lineup at second. Nishioka was a bust last year at second, and this year proved to be even worse. As it stands right now, Nishioka’s career Win Above Replacement (WAR) is -2.5, the worst of any player in Twins history. In other words, Nishioka’s is the worst player in Twins history.

Nishioka was promptly demoted, and Casilla reinstalled at second till Plouffe returned from his injury. Supposedly Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was set to go with Carroll at second, Dozier at short, and Plouffe at third. The Twins front office had other plans, and demoted Dozier even though there are only 2 ½ weeks left in the minor league season, and Dozier would almost certainly be right back with the Twins in September.

Now Pedro Florimon – a career .249 hitter in the minor leagues - has been summoned to be the new “shortstop of the future”.

Personally, I would have left Dozier the minors and brought him about now when he could play with less pressure –with the season lost - then he experienced earlier this year. Carroll should have been left at short and Casilla at second till then. Nishioka has no business even being with the Twins. While Florimon might be a great fielder he can’t hit which as been the argument used against Casilla for years.

Let’s face facts, the Twins have no shortstop at the major or minor league level worthy of starting for them in the foreseeable future. The only second basemen worth anything in the system is super prospect Eddie Rosario who is playing well, but is in low A ball, and is at least 2 years away.

The Twins have no middle infielders worthy of a major league roster spot outside of Carroll who is best as a backup. While the Twins search for starting pitching this off-season, they also need to search for a new starting shortstop and second basemen.

Update to the Update on My Autographed Twins Baseball Card Collection

I knew when I published my post on Sunday that I would get signed cards in the mail from players I had listed as not responding. Sure enough, I got Chris Parmelee back on Monday along with 3 lesser minor league players (Pedro Hernandez and Eduardo Escobar – the 2 guys acquired for Francisco Liriano – and Evan Bigley). Thanks much to these gentlemen for signing for me.

Update on My Autograph Twins Baseball Card Collection

As previous mentioned in this blog, I collect autographed baseball cards through the mail (TTM) and in-person with the hope of getting a signed baseball card from every living current and former Minnesota Twin. My collection now stands at 420 players with 223 left to go (I have 110 request outstanding).

I am only 3 for 15 on current Twins I sent TTM this year. I extend my thanks to Cole De Vries, Darin Mastroianni, and Jamey Carroll for signing for me. Jared Burton, Ryan Doumit, Carl Pavano, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Brian Dozier, Alexi Casilla, Liam Hendriks, Chris Parmelee, Samuel Deduno, Luis Perdomo, Casey Fien, and P.J. Walters are hopefully going to be coming through for me as well.

I already have signed cards of Doumit, Pavano, Casilla, Hendriks, and Parmelee, but these gentlemen have tended to good signers TTM, and every new season brings a new set of baseball cards I want to get autographed.

A few of the former Twins I have received back TTM this year include:

Craig Monroe c/o FSN Detroit

Chuck James

Jacque Jones c/o Fort Wayne Tin Cups

Eric Milton

Luke Hughes c/o Oakland A’s

Casey Blake

Rob Delaney

Randy Ruiz

Paul Sorrento c/o Inland Empire 66ers

Dave Hollins

J.D. Durbin

Brian Buchanan

Joe Nathan

J.T. Burett

Clete Thomas

Corky Miller

Jose Mijares

Rob Wilfong (private signing)

I was particularly happy to get back Jones and Sorrento. I have sent to Jacque Jones multiple times, and never received much of a response. Since Jacque is a favorite of mine, it was great to get something him back from him. Sorrento was a guy I have been trying to get for years, as he was a member of the 1991 World Series team. I now have 22 of the 25 members of that team while I already have every member of the 87 World Series team.

Also this year I sent TTM to super prospects Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Oswaldo Arica, Hudson Boyd, Byron Buxton, and Jose Berrios with no response yet. Sano and Rosario signed for me last year, but they seem to be ignoring me this year. I did get responses from prospects Levi Michael, Travis Harrison, and Dereck Rodriguez.

My in-person successes include: ($ means I had to pay for the autograph.)

Brad Radke

Jarvis Brown $

Kent Hrbek

Alexi Casilla

Brian Dozier $

Glen Perkins

Ben Revere

Scott Diamond

Trevor Plouffe

Brian Duensing

I don’t wait outside the stadium or anything, but the Twins players usually make several appearances during the season at local businesses.

One person who won’t be making any appearances (save Twinsfest) to sign autographs is Joe Mauer. The Twins best player has an exclusive deal with Ironclad Aesthetics, so if you want to send $$$ to Ironclad, they hold private signing with Mauer in the spring and winter. I have participated in these signing and things have gone well, but it not cheap.

Here’s hoping for more successes this year and for years to come.

Minnesota Twins Need Starting Pitching

The Twins are at the half way point of their season, and it obvious they are heading to another losing season. Sadly, the Twins continued downfall comes even though most of the players they added to roster to improve the team have played well.

Josh Willingham has been the power hitter the Twins had hope for. Ryan Doumit has provided the backup at catcher and part-time DH the Twins needed. Jared Burton has been excellent out of the bullpen. Jamey Carroll has been solid as short and 2^nd.

Young players Scott Diamond (starting pitcher) Ben Revere (outfield), and Trevor Plouffe (3^rd base) have emerged giving the Twins some hope for the future. While franchise player Joe Mauer has returned to All-Star form though the Mauer haters out there won’t satisfied till Mauer hit .400 with 30 HRs. 

Yet, despite the many things that have gone right for the Twins, they are still on the bottom the American League. Why? The answer Twins starting pitching has been awful. Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, and Jason Marquis were going to be the starting rotation. Instead Baker and Pavano have been injured. Blackburn was so bad he was demoted, while Marquis was even worse and was released.

Liam Hendriks, P. J. Walters, Cole De Vries, and Sam Deduno were called up from the minors, and were mostly ineffective. Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak were brought out the bullpen to be starters and were also ineffective. Only Scott Diamond has pitched well as a starter though Liriano has been pitching well of late. Teams can’t win with that kind of starting pitching.

For all of the struggles of Justin Morneau (not hitting like he use to), Brian Dozier (the young shortstop has struggled in the field and at the plate), and Danny Valencia (played so bad he was demoted and replaced at 3^rd by Plouffe who has taken over the job for the foreseeable future), the Twins cannot get anywhere with starting pitching they have been getting.

One-time super prospect Kyle Gibson is returning from Tommy John surgery, and may be able to help next year, so to may the solid prospect Hendriks, who has pitched well since his recent demotion. Still Diamond, Gibson, and Hendriks are only three of a needed five. Not to mention replacements when injuries occur.

The Twins prospects like Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Oswaldo Arcia, Travis Harrison, Aaron Hicks, Byron Buxton, and Dereck Rodriguez are all position players. That means that the Twins are going to have dig up some pitching either via trade (hard to do) or free agency (very expensive to do). In other words, the Twins are in trouble and help may not be very close.

Johan Santana Was Not Always a Star

Congratulations to former Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana on pitching his first no-hitter. 

Santana was a unheralded Rule 5 draft pickup whose first 2 years with the Twins (2000 – 2001) were pretty unspectacular. By 2003 though Santana was on his way to becoming the best pitcher in all of baseball, winning the AL CY Young award in 2004 and 2006.

It is fairly obvious that Johan Santana is one of the 10 best Twins ever. Looking at the Twins career leaders in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) Santana is the 9^th best player in Twins history.

Rod Carew – 60.4
Harmon Killebrew – 49.9
Kirby Puckett – 48.2
Bert Blyleven – 46.3
Brad Radke – 42.6
Tony Oliva – 39.7
Chuck Knoblauch – 36.3
Kent Hrbek – 35.7
Johan Santana – 34.0
Joe Mauer – 32.8

However, with all the honors Santana received as a Twin, and the sheer domination he showed between 2003 -2007, Santana probably joins, Mauer, Carew, Killebrew, Puckett, Blyleven, and Oliva as one the seven biggest stars ever in Twins history.

The Twins could not keep Santana, who wanted $20 + million a year, and traded him after the 2007 season to the Mets. His time with the Mets has been injury filled, but the no-hitter he just threw – first in Mets history – will make him a legend there.

I don’t know if Santana will make the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he certainly will make the Twins Hall of Fame. I also know he will be a hard and expensive autograph to get, but that was not always the case.

When I began collecting Twins autographs 2005, Santana was already hugely popular. How popular? At the 2006 Twins Autograph Party I waited line over 4 hours to get Santana to sign a baseball for me, and I barely made it threw the line.

However, last weeekend I was at the Twins Cities Sports Collector Club (TCSCC) show in Bloomington when I found some Santana signed cards for a reasonable price. When I asked the guy who had them where he got them, the guy told me that back in 2001, before he became a star, Santana made an autograph signing appearance at the TCSCC show charging like $5-10 an item, and not a lot of people were interested in him.

It is just another reminder that a player who might not seem like a star at the time, might well turn into one. That is why I am collecting autographed baseball cards for all living Minnesota Twins, not just the ones I think will be a star.

Meanwhile I now have signed cards from 411 current or former Twins which means in my quest to get a signed card from living current and former Twins is now in need of 238 more players. I have requests out to 112 of them, so we will see what shows up.

I can all but guarantee there won’t be a card coming in the mail from Johan Santana (he has not signed through the mail in years), but again congrats Johan on your well deserved no-hitter.

Scott Diamond Signs for Me Before He Becomes Popular

In a desperate attempt to reverse their so to be lost season, the Minnesota Twins are cycling through players in an attempt to find someone who can help stem the losing tide.

One of those players is starting pitcher Scott Diamond. Diamond was a Rule 5 pickup before last season and he dutifully showed up for Twinsfest 2011 to signed autograph for fans. Not many people were interested in getting his though, but because I was out to collect autographed baseball cards of every living current and former Twin, I created the above card of him to sign.

The card (see above) has a picture of him at the 2009 World Baseball Classic where he pitched for his native Canada. Diamond signed the card for me, and was quite pleasant about it. In 2011 Diamond was pretty bad though at Triple A, and when the Twins got desperate and called him up to the big leagues he got rough up there too.

I figured Diamond was finished as a Twin, and in spring training this year he was demoted to minors quite quickly. Then a funny thing happed, Diamond started pitching great at Triple A, and upon being called up to the majors a couple weeks ago, he went out and pitched back to back games where he pitched 7 innings of shutout baseball. 

Now Diamond is being hailed as the Twins best starting pitcher. Funny how a guy few people wanted an autograph from back in 2011 now probably could draw a fairly big crowd of autograph seekers.

Because Diamond is left-handed and throws strikes, he should have a solid major league career. Stardom is not likely, but I think he may be around awhile. Good that I got an autograph card of him when I did. Thanks for signing for me Scott; I think you have a lot more people interested in you now.